Because Of? Or In Spite Of?

Revelations from a Past-Life Regression

Anyone who knows me from long ago would have told you they could see it coming from miles away.

I stumbled across this book in the library on the 'simple' science of getting what you want. It dealt extensively on logical fallacies, which are arguments and reasoning that seem sound but are actually wrong. Very wrong.

I was like an addict on rehab suddenly offered the drugs he craved.

I couldn't help myself.

I devoured the book in one sitting and, before I knew it, I was brought back to my past-life as a Philosophy major in NUS. Those were the days when I was first taught about logical fallacies, learned to dissect (and demolish) arguments just for the fun of it… and couldn't carry on a normal conversation with anyone outside of the Philo department for longer than five minutes!

("Err… JJ, there's not much difference between then and now…")

Anyway, one of the fallacies is called Post hoc ergo propter hoc, which is the idea that because event A happened before event B, therefore event A is the cause of event B. And this fallacy has caused the greatest amount of confusion in the Worship Training scene.

For example, an unprepared person gets thrown into the deep end of the pool and has to play an instrument for worship. This person plays badly (out of time and many wrong chords) and the presence of God is felt in an intense way.

Conclusion? The poor playing caused the presence of God to be made manifest in a powerful way.

So we should play poorly too. Shouldn't we?

Another example: a pastor comes back from an overseas conference at a church experiencing powerful revival. He had a very personal encounter with God as the host church sang one of their home grown songs 20 times in a row.

Conclusion: if we sing the same worship song 20 times in a row we'll have the same revival too.

The examples are extreme for the sake of showing you the fallacy in action. If we decided to be a lot more discerning, however, we'll find that there are other questions we can and should ask.

Taking the second example: was the revival because of the song? Or the repetition? Or the people singing the song? Or the worship leader leading the song? Or the sermon the pastor preached before the song (earlier in the service, the night before or last week)?

Or from having as many of those factors as possible coming together?

The exact song may have played a crucial role. Or it may not, and all the impact may have been caused by something else. The musicians may have messed up the music that time. So do we say that the revival happened because the musicians messed up? Or in spite of it?

As you can easily see, it's very difficult to shift through all these possibilities and identify the immediately relevant ones. And one reason for that is because people do not have a comprehensive and sound worship ministry paradigm to help them think through the issues and factors.

That is why my book The Invisible Worship Musician is so powerful. It gives a comprehensive and sound worship ministry paradigm that helps you to:

1) understand and explain what works for worship ministry and why; AND

2) forecast, with reasonable accuracy, if (and how) any new factors may or may not influence the worship experience of the congregation.

Without it, we are simply groping in the dark. We end up tossed back and forth by the waves, blown here and there by every wind of 'teaching' and chasing every new craze and the latest worship fads that come along.

Now I am not saying that the Invisible Worship Musician paradigm is the ONLY viable worship ministry paradigm available. However, I do sincerely believe it gives you the best results, and puts you in a better position to understand and evaluate other worship ministry paradigms too.

That's about it for now. Stay tuned, I'll be sharing with you soon about how you can discover other worship ministry paradigms that can greatly benefit your ministry.

Be blessed!

Worship Ministry Skills and Pride...

How being used by God keeps you humble

People look at the worship training I do (both in person and via my Invisible Worship Musician training materials) and wonder: Will someone end up in pride if they discover the secrets and methods of worship ministry, so much that they are consistently effective in this area of ministry?

Personally, I don't believe that is possible during the time of ministry. In my own personal experience, when I am more powerfully used by God than usual, I experience a very heightened state of intense awareness. I suspect this is what Paul refers to when he wrote about fear and trembling in the following passage:

...continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose. (Phil 2:12-13, NIV)

I've had quite a bit of experience in performing, so I can confidently tell you that it's not the usual performance-high that I had in my younger days. That felt both exciting and good at the same time (which is why people can get addicted to it).

The 'fear and trembling' is different. Your heart beats faster, all your senses feel more awake than usual; you see things in sharper focus, you hear details you never noticed before, you're aware of sensations you usually miss, like the feel of your clothes, the aircon and the sweat on your face.

Moreover, in this intensified presence of God, you feel as if you are balancing on a razor's edge, about to fall from a precarious position. And yet you are aware that God's presence is there, ready to catch you if you fall, ready to help you if you stumble, and gently nudging you in your singing and choice of notes on the instrument.

The Invisible Worship Musician Paradigm clears away the distractions and debris that obstruct us from serving freely as worship ministers before God. Because the methods and techniques in there are simple, I believe it is the worship ministry equivalent of what Paul described in his preaching experience:

I came to you in weakness and fear, and with much trembling. My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit's power, so that your faith might not rest on men's wisdom, but on God's power. (1 Corinthians 2:3-5, NIV)

Paul's preaching of an unsophisticated message required him to lay down his trust in his powerful intellect and reasoning abilities. And when he saw fruit in his ministry, the lives of the Corinthians being transformed by the gospel, he knew totally that it was God's transforming power at work, not his own wisdom and understanding.

Likewise I see the Invisible Worship Musician as teaching us to lay down our trust in our music skills and our hearts, and trust instead that when we do things God's way, we will get God's kind of results. That way our faith will not rest on our skills or our personal devotion to God, but on God's presence.

I hope this sharing helps answer any concerns you may have in your heart about the Invisible Worship Musician. If you have not gotten your copy of the Invisible Worship Musician yet, then I urge you to take advantage of the Milestones Sale currently going on.

This promotion allows you to purchase the Invisible Worship Musician training materials at US$37 ($20 off the usual price) But hurry! This promotion will end on the 8th of November. You have less than 2 days left!

Be blessed!